anchoret

OK, so I'm trying to fit up a laptop-based surveillance system before leaving for vacation. The commercial packages didn't seem to have the features I wanted and various computer-based software promised the sun and moon in terms of hardware compatibility and features, so I decided to go that route -- using some outside cams plus the laptop's native webcam (do you see where this is headed?). I bought four Q-See indoor/outdoor cams and a EasyCap-type USB 4-channel capture device because that's essentially all that will work with a laptop, USB. This device uses the SOMagic 2021 chip. Incredibly, the cameras and the device worked fine with the hokey little bundleware program and there were no apparent problems with Win7/64. What could possibly go wrong? The problem is that apparently none of these hotshot, ultra-compatible, work-with-anything surveillance programs will recognize and configure the cameras. They just see the capture device essentially as a dead camera, rather than a capture device with four working cameras. Is there a solution to this, or am I the victim of a very bad joke? Thanks for any help!